


De-aged

by tashaxxxxxx



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-07-13
Updated: 2014-08-03
Packaged: 2018-02-08 16:52:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 11,640
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1948863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tashaxxxxxx/pseuds/tashaxxxxxx
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An accident in the lab causes Charles to be de-aged to a 5 year old</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place after the events of Days of Future past with Logan staying rather than leaving

The explosion that ran through the mansion, causing the whole place to shake, came from the lab. Alex and Sean, ignoring the yells from the children, ran down the stars were they knew Hank and the Professor had been. Hank met them as they entered the now destroyed lab, looking a little dazed though mostly unhurt, although the edges of his blue fur where singed slightly. 

“What happened?” Alex asked just as Sean asked, “Where’s the Professor?” Hank didn’t have chance to answer as part of the ceiling collapsed in on itself and the three mutants were forced to jump backwards, coughing as the dust entered their lungs. Without saying anything, the three ducked under the debris in search of Charles. 

They found the chair abandoned in the middle of the lab next to the blackened lab table. “Professor?” Alex shouted, not a little apprehensive. Charles wouldn’t have gotten far without the wheelchair but none of them could see him. 

“Where….” Sean trailed off when he noticed one of the Professors’ shoes. Frowning, the youngest of the three walked over to it and picked it up. “What happened?” Hank only shrugged, completely confused now as to what might have happened to Charles.  
Seeing that the shoe was by one of over-turned lab tables that had managed to end up leaning against the wall, Hank pushed the table away not expecting to find what he did hiding in the small space between wall and table. 

A small boy no more than 5 years old was curled up in a ball wearing over-sized clothes that Hank was almost positive he had seen on Charles just before the accident. The boy had floppy brown hair that might have been a little long and when he looked up at the three mutants they saw he had the same bright blue eyes as the Professor, except these eyes were welling with tears. “Hey, what’s your name?” Sean said, kneeling in front of the child. Hank had backed away not wanting to frighten the boy. 

“Charles.” The boy stated a little quietly, making the three mutants share a look. Or rather Alex and Sean to frown at Hank and Hank to look both confused and a little embarrassed. “What…” Charles trailed off as his gaze surveyed the room, looking completely lost and not a little scared. 

Without thinking, Sean picked up the de-aged Professor who panicked a little in the grasp before quietening down and allowed Sean to carry him up the stairs. The school had only just opened so there weren’t many pupils actually in the building so the three were able to make their way into one of the un-used rooms without meeting anyone else. Alex and Sean had checked to make sure the younger children were all alright before going down to the lab and knew they were so had left them in one of the rooms upstairs. 

“How old are you Charles?” Alex asked after Sean had placed the de-aged Professor into a chair. He was still a little in shock at seeing Charles like this but had gotten used to hiding those sort of feelings around the younger kids and figured the young Charles didn’t need to know about how they were really feeling. Which brought about the question of if Charles still had his powers or not and Alex really hoped he didn’t because a kid with telepathy could not be a good thing. 

“5. Who are you?” Charles asked, his wide blue eyes looking at the three accusingly as if they didn’t have any place in his home. 

“I’m Sean and this is Alex and Hank.” Sean said, meeting the accusing gaze of the 5 year old. 

“You’re blue.” Hank started a little at that but relaxed when he saw the grin spread over the small Charles’ face. “Why?” 

It would seem that even as a child the Professor was still inquisitive about nearly everything. “It’s a mutation.” 

“Mutation?” Charles asked, frowning as he came to grips with the word. “My Father worked with mutation.” The young boy trailed off then, a sad look crossing his eyes. 

“Well, we’re all mutants here.” Sean said, wanting to cheer the young child up. Charles went to open his mouth to say something when a large bang came from down the hall and a moment later Logan walked through the doors. 

Logan had been staying at the mansion ever since what happened with Trask and while the three of them were still getting used to the brisk behaviour of the older mutant, Charles had managed to calm the older man considerably. Something that Hank had put down to the other mutant coming from the future. Or rather a version of it that hopefully didn’t exist anymore. “What the hell happened?” Logan growled upon seeing the young child dressed still in adult clothing. 

“We…well we don’t still don’t really know.” Alex’s statement caused Hank to blush and Logan to glare at him, obviously not happy. 

Charles seemed to not like the silence as the 5 year old suddenly jumped from the chair and walked over to Logan, not flinching in the slightest when Logan’s gaze flicked to him. “I’m Charles Xavier, nice to meet you.” For a 5 year old the kid had excellent manners and for a moment Logan was taken aback before the name registered.  
Giving the other’s a look that clearly said they’d be talking about this, Logan bent down to look at the kid, his own hard gaze meeting the friendly gaze of Charles Xavier. “I’m  
Logan.” Charles smiled up at him. 

“I’m gonna go see if we can find any children clothes.” Sean suddenly said as Logan raised himself up. “Coming Charles?” The young boy seemed torn for a minute but the he grabbed onto Sean’s hand and followed, having decided to just go with the flow of the situation for a while. 

“I’ll go and check on the children.” Alex bolted from the room then, feeling not in the slightest bit guilty about leaving Hank with an angry Logan. Then again it was Hank’s fault that the Professor was no longer…well the Professor.

“What happened?” Logan growled, earning a guilty look from Hank who was still trying to figure it out himself. 

“There was an accident in the lab, we were doing some tests on…”

“I don’t need the lecture.” Logan interrupted. 

“Right, sorry. Erm, we were doing tests and there was some kind of explosion and there was this gas and Charles, I think, might have inhaled it but I didn’t think it would have that kind of reaction and…”

“Can you fix it?” Logan interrupted the scientists nervous talking. 

“I don’t know.” Hank replied because, truthfully, he had no idea what had even caused it. 

……………………..

It was Alex who found some clothes for the young child, taking them from some of the younger children’s wardrobe. Even then the clothes were a little big and loose but it really was the best they could do at that moment. Charles seemed happy enough with the new pants, actually an old pair of three-quarter length ones of Scott that still dragged on the floor though fit well enough around the waist when Charles was wearing a belt. 

Alex had told the younger children to go outside and play, hoping to hide the fact that the Professor was now 5 year old from them. What he hadn’t banked on was Jean picking up the worried thoughts running through his head and shouting it out at him. He’d then had to explain what had happened, though thankfully the children had taken it well enough, even wanting to bring the young Charles out to play with them. Alex had declined, not knowing if that was such a good idea or not considering the age difference. The youngest child in the mansion was 8, that being Jean and Charles was small for a 5 year old. There was also the point that the Professor might not appreciate it when he came back. 

Charles was now curled up in a chair, reading from a book that Sean didn’t think was suitable for a 5 year old but he wasn’t about to stop him. “What are we going to do?” Alex whispered, in a desperate attempt not to let Charles hear him.

When Charles didn’t look like he heard, Sean answered. “I don’t know. Hank will find a way to reverse it.” 

“And until then?” Alex asked, looking a little scared as his gaze shifted to the 5 year old. Neither of them said anything about Hank not being able to reverse it because, while they teased the scientist, they knew he would be able to. And they didn’t want to think of Charles like this forever. 

“We keep an eye on him.” Sean replied, not knowing what else to say. Honestly, Sean though Chares was quite a calm 5 year old and he hadn’t even cried or anything since finding him like this, the near tears in the lab being the only occasion. “And he doesn’t really seem like he’ll be that much trouble.” Both looked over at the 5 year old reading in the corner and Alex found himself agreeing with Sean on that statement. As eerie as it was to see the Professor as a child, he couldn’t help but be very grateful it was Charles because if this had happened to anyone else then who knows what might just happen. 

…………………

“Where’s Mother?” Charles small voice appeared from behind Logan, making the bigger man start a little. Alex and Sean had decided to take the other children out of the mansion for a while so to give them some time to figure out what to do while Hank had gone down to the lab. Logan had almost forgotten Charles was still here, and a 5 year old, until the child had wandered into the living room. 

“She’s away.” Logan expected Charles to ask more but the 5 year old seemed to accept this answer and instead climbed onto the armchair opposite Logan. It was almost comical to watch the 5 year old attempt to get onto the tall chair. When Charles was finally seated properly, Logan’s silent laughter quickly turned to that of worry. What the hell was he meant to do with a kid? 

“I wish Mother didn’t have to go away all the time.” Charles murmured and Logan panicked at the sad look in the child’s eyes. He didn’t need a crying child to deal with. He toyed with calling Hank up when Charles quickly composed himself and said, “Sorry, I didn’t mean to say that. Mother says’ I’m not to complain.” Charles did a good impression of acting grown-up but Logan could tell that the 5 year old was still a little upset.  
Most of the time, Logan would ignore this but instead he found himself saying, “Why does your Mother go away all the time?”  
Charles looked up in surprise, obviously not expecting the bigger man to ask something like that. Logan was starting to wonder what kind of childhood the Professor had had. “She doesn’t like it here anymore after Dad died.” Logan didn’t know what to say to that, especially when Charles turned those huge sad blue eyes on him. “Sorry, I don’t mean to…”

Don’t apologise.” Logan might have said that a little too gruffly as Charles shrank away from him. “Sorry bud.” The older man said, quickly reassuring the child. He wasn’t used to this but it seemed Charles had accepted the apology as he soon smiled at him, albeit a little hesitantly. “Want me to read to ya?”  
Charles looked a little shocked at the question but soon nodded, jumping from the chair and handing Logan the book. It definitely wasn’t a children’s book and Logan couldn’t halo the laugh as he read a little of the book. Genetics. Figured the Professor would be just as nerdy as a child as he was in older form.

…………………

Alex and Sean returned with the children in tow just before dinner and Logan was almost a little sorry to stop looking after the kid. Though he’d never admit it and Charles looked infinitely happy at seeing the other children. Figured he wouldn’t have spent much time around children growing up, what with the mansion being literally in the middle of nowhere. 

Thankfully, the children seemed to have understood what had happened to Charles and while they were overly curious, asking a million questions of the 5 year old, they didn’t mention anything about him not really meant to be 5 years old. Charles was a little hesitant at first but Scott, Jean and Ororo quickly dragged them along with them and Logan couldn’t help but worry about how much those three could corrupt the young child. 

Dinner was an interesting affair, the children still fawning over Charles and at one point Ororo had to be physically stopped from feeding the 5 year old as if he were a baby. Charles didn’t seem to mind it, actually grinning happily at the attention. In Alex’s opinion the young child didn’t seem to get enough attention from his family as the children’s’ attention was met as if it were completely foreign. 

Hank was still in the lab by the time Alex and Sean decided Charles should go to bed. It was nearing 8 and while they had no idea how to look after a 5 year old they guessed that 8 was an appropriate bed time. 

They’d thought making Charles go to bed would have been difficult but when they came into the room they’d last seen the children in, Jean said that Charles had already gone to bed. Alex and Sean both frowned as they made their way to the Professors’ bedroom, hoping that would be where the child would have gone as they didn’t really want to search the whole mansion. 

They were right as they found Charles standing in front of the bed, confusion plain on his face. As Alex looked around the room he quickly realised why. The room was that of the Professor as they knew him, not of a 5 year old. “Pyjamas’?” Sean asked, holding up another set of old clothes he’d scavenged from the children. 

“Thank you.” Charles said, taking them and disappearing into the adjoining bathroom. He looked surprised to find them still standing there when he got back and even more surprised when Sean helped him into the large bed. “There used to be a stool but…”

“We’ll see if we can’t find it tomorrow and all your stuff okay?” Charles nodded and Sean was seriously surprised that Charles didn’t ask why it wasn’t all in his room now. “You need anything?” 

“Could you leave the lamp on?” Charles asked a little shyly as the older mutants nodded their heads and left the room. Neither said anything as they made their way down the stairs, both thinking the same thing. Charles had obviously not expected them to put him to bed and if they hadn’t they could guess Charles would have ended up sleeping on the floor rather than ask for help getting into the too-tall bed. 

“We are not leaving him alone again.” Alex stated as they got down the stairs and Sean nodded in agreement. Charles would not be left alone while they were here like he so obviously had when a child with his family.


	2. Chapter 2

Hank was working late in the lab, desperately trying to find a way to reverse whatever had happened to Charles but every time he thought he had something he hit a dead end. It didn’t help that he honestly had no idea what had caused it to begin with. In fact if not for the fact he’d seen the 5 year old Charles then he wouldn’t have believed it. Alex had come down at some point with food but other than that the others had left him be, trusting him to find a way to fix whatever had happened to Charles. Except Hank wasn’t sure how he could fix it and the more he thought about it the more he started to panic at the idea of Charles being like this forever. He may be a cute 5 year old that, according to Sean who had come down to give him an update a few hours ago, didn’t cause any problems and was mostly just a little lonely; but Hank didn’t want to think of them never getting the Professor back because of him. 

“You need to sleep.” Logan voice made Hank start. He should have heard Logan coming but he had used the serum so he could more easily work with the equipment. “The problem will still be there tomorrow. No sleep ain’t good for no one bud.” Hank couldn’t help but agree. He was used to pulling all-nighters, had been doing so ever since Harvard, but with the added stress of the Professor as a child, Hank was starting to drop a little.

“Is he alright?” Hank asked. He was still unsure of what other effects the smoke might have caused. 

“Just quiet, Summers and Cassidy are worried about that.” Logan growled. “Now sleep the Professor won’t be happy if he comes back to find you died from exhaustion.” Ash crude as Logan often was, Hank appreciated the sympathy.

“Come get me if anything happens.” Logan grunted his consent as Hank disappeared from the room and to his own rooms. Hopefully with some sleep, he’d be able to find a way to reverse it. 

…………………………

The first sign anything was wrong happened at around 4 the next morning. Alex woke to a slight headache appearing in his skull, which while unusual was nothing to be concerned over. Or it would have been if not for the soft crying coming from down the hall in the Professors’ room. Thinking Charles had had some kind of nightmare, Alex jumped from the bed and made his way to the Professors rooms. 

“Hey, Charles you okay?” Alex asked after letting himself in. The small boy was curled up in the seats his back to Alex as he sobbed quietly into the mattress. “Charles?” Alex asked, worry immediately heightening as he moved to the other side of the bed. Charles was curled up his tiny hands clutching at his head as he whimpered as if in pain. “Hey?” Alex went to touch Charles when the 5 year old suddenly yelled out in pain, flying away from Alex causing hurt to run through Alex. 

“Sorry, sorry, sorry.” Charles mumbled, still clutching at his head.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked as Sean and Hank came running to the open door having heard the shout. 

“Head hurts.” Charles whimpered, closing his eyes as if that might dissipate from the pain.   
Hank took one look at the crying 5 year old before something clicked in his mind. “When did the Professors’ power manifest?” He whispered to Sean before the younger could go over to the crying child. 

“I don’t…” Sean began and then swore. Alex looked up sharply at the words but Charles ignored them, rocking a little as he cried. 

“He can hear our thoughts.” Hank told Alex, sitting on the bed next to the child. Alex swore then as well. “Charles?” Hank started but Charles only whimpered and Hank quickly tried to stop himself from thinking things but that didn’t seem to help as the child just shouted out, sitting abruptly up. 

“Shut up!” Charles shouted and before any of them could register what happened, Sean fell to the ground shouting in pain. Hank knelt next to the younger boy when a sharp needle like thought his mind and he too fell to the ground, followed quickly by Alex. It felt like someone was pressing a needle into his skull over and over again. Except it wasn’t a needle. It was Charles. Charles was doing this and the 5 year olds hysterical crying didn’t seem to be helping as he was doubled over in the pain coming from the others. 

“Charles…” Alex started in a vain attempt to calm the distraught 5 year old but was quickly off when his head started to thump as if it might split open and Alex really hoped this wasn’t a projection of what Charles might be feeling. Before any of them could try and calm Charles down, however, the 5 year old had jumped up and ran from them. By the time the pain disappeared, Charles was nowhere to be found. 

………………………..

Mystique had returned to Magneto a few months after what happened with Trask. While she hadn’t completely forgiven him of his treatment towards her she believed in Erik’s cause enough to push her own feelings aside. Like Charles’ school had started to grow, the Brotherhood had also grown albeit smaller than it had previously been and with a large enough hole from the lack of Azazel, Angel, Riptide and even Emma. 

Right now the pair was standing at the outskirts of the Xavier estate and Raven was seriously considering if this was a good idea or not. Charles may have seemingly forgiven them for everything that had happened since Cuba, Raven didn’t believe he would be overly pleased to see them here. Even Erik had expressed his concern about this meeting but the pair needed to talk to Charles so here they were. 

It was strange, Raven thought, that even if Charles and she weren’t really brother and sister any more she still went to him for advice, just like Erik seemed to be doing. The Brotherhood had recently picked up a strange new addition whose powers’ were unstable enough that if he got even the slightest bit angry he could turn himself into an atomic bomb. Most of the Brotherhood had wanted to get rid of this unstable mutant but Erik refused. Like Charles, Erik did want to help mutant-kind he just wasn’t interested in the humans like Charles was. Between the two of them, they had decided the best option for this mutant was Charles. So here they were. 

Erik looked up at the gates that showed the entrance to the Xavier estate and once more considered if this was a good idea or not. It was true Charles was the only person Erik trusted to help this mutant and he also knew Charles would never turn down his request. What he was worried over though was coming face to face with his friend after what had happened in Washington. While he had no qualms about what he had done he didn’t know how Charles might look at him after what he had done. And Erik, while never admitting it, had always cared about the way Charles saw him. 

A small sob brought the two from their thoughts. Raven and Erik shared a look as the noise grew louder, coming from a clump of trees just by the gates. The two mutants quickly went towards it, wondering why one of Charles’ students would be outside crying because how else could it be but one of Charles’ students. 

The small boy was seemed to have collapsed by one of the trees, his legs huddled up under his chin. His brown floppy hair covered the majority of his face and Erik couldn’t help but notice the pyjamas’ were a little big for the small child who seemed to have realised they were there as he looked up. He didn’t bat an eye-lid at the fact Raven was blue, though that was probably due to McCoy. The boy’s bright blue eyes were full of tears and his hair was tousled as if he’d been clutching at it. 

Erik frowned, wondering why the child was out here on his own because he didn’t believe Charles would ever do that. He was about to say something when the child flung himself at him and Erik ended up bending down so as to pick the child up rather than have him attached to his legs. “No!” The child shouted as Erik went to pull off his helmet so as to tell Charles they’d found a crying child out here. Erik hesitated not wanting to upset the child any further but also not feeling comfortable holding a distraught child.   
Raven decided for him, however, as she said, “I’ll go ahead.” And before Magneto could say or do anything Raven had disappeared. As soon as raven was gone, the child seemed to relax further, his head pressed against Erik’s now damp shoulder. All Erik could think to do was place a comforting hand on the child’s shoulder until he finally quietened down. The boy’s breathing had evened out then and when Erik looked closer at the child, he noticed he had fallen asleep.

Sighing in annoyance, Erik made his way to the front of the mansion, making sure not to jostle the sleeping child so much. When they were close to the mansion, Erik could feel the metal from the group gathered at the front of the mansion but he couldn’t sense the metal of Charles’ wheelchair, which made him wonder if Hank had made the chair completely plastic or not. As they grew closer, the child started to stir, whimpering a little in his sleep and making Erik walk faster. He didn’t need the child getting even more upset than he already so obviously was. 

Hank took the sleeping child from Erik’s arms, a frown appearing on his face. Erik noted that Charles wasn’t anywhere in sight and was about to say so when the child woke up and started struggling away from Hank. A young red head was standing at the door, sleepily rubbing at her eyes. Erik wondered for a moment why she was there when Hank handed the struggling child to her saying, “Jean see if you can’t quieten him down.” Jean nodded and Erik guessed she must be some sort of telepath like Charles as the child did quieten down after a few minutes. Which made Erik wonder once more where Charles was because h would have thought Charles would be the one to do this.

“Where’s Charles?” Erik asked as soon as the child and Jean had disappeared. He couldn’t help but feel a little worried, actually. Something had to be very wrong if Charles wasn’t there to try and calm the crying child. 

“He’s…well…” Hank began and Erik felt anger serge in him. 

“That was Charles.” Logan stated, interrupting Charles. 

“You’re joking.” Raven said, a small smile appearing on her lips because how could that be Charles. 

“We’re not.” Hank said, serious obvious in his tone and Raven quickly sobered. “There was an accident in the lab and the Professor he…”

“He turned into a 5 year old.” Alex finished, obviously not impressed at the thought. 

“Can you change him back?” Erik immediately asked. 

“Hank’s working on it.” Alex said but Erik wasn’t paying attention his thoughts going back to the crying child. Or rather crying Charles. But before he could say anymore Raven’s eyes had widened and she started speaking again. 

“His powers. They manifested when he was 5…”

“They manifested now actually. About 3 hours ago.” Sean stated rather bluntly and Erik understood why Charles had been like that. A 5 year old hearing all of those voices at once. Erik couldn’t even imagine the pain of it. 

“What can we do?” The other mutants looked surprised at what Erik said but they didn’t comment on it. In fact they looked almost grateful and Erik was starting to realise why now. Charles had calmed with him because Erik was wearing the helmet so the child wouldn’t hear his thoughts and Raven…well Raven had known Charles for years and while not when Charles was 5 Raven would know the most about Charles’ past to be of more help than the other mutants. As much as it obviously annoyed them, they needed Erik and Raven there.


	3. Chapter 3

"Jean's a telepath so we figured the best way of controlling mini-Charles was for her to get inside his head and…" Here Sean trailed off unsure how to further explain what Jean had done. Either way it had worked and now the 5 year old was sleeping peacefully, or at least relatively peacefully, upstairs. Raven was sitting with him, having refused to leave Charles' side as soon as the other mutants had told them what had happened. Erik didn't blame her for that as he too wanted to keep an eye on his friend, not that he was about to tell anyone else that of course.

Hank had disappeared back into his lab and Erik really hoped he would find a way to reverse this quickly because Erik didn't know how much more of this he could handle. And he'd only been there for a few hours.

"We don't like you Magneto but by the looks of Charles we kind of need you." Alex finally said after a moment's silence. Erik may not be a telepath but he could hear the hate in Alex's voice and while he hated it was there he understood why they wouldn't like him.

"I'll stay but I don't know much about looking after children. Or what Charles would be like." Erik finally said, not wanting to leave his friend while he was in this state.

"None of us do. But Mystique might." And that, Erik thought, was very true.

….

Charles was curled up in a ball on the too large bed, whimpering a little in his sleep. Raven hadn't been around when Charles first git his powers but she knew it had taken a while for Charles to understand the voices in his head were that of other peoples and not him going crazy. At least he was with people who understood something about telepaths this time around and they also did have a kid that was a telepath in the mansion, even if said kid was barely older than 5 year old Charles.

The whimpering seemed to have stopped and when Raven looked over at the bed she was met with the bright blue eyes of Charles. "You're blue." He stated and Raven automatically switched back to her blonde form, not wanting to scare the child. "No, better blue." Raven couldn't help but smile a little as she flickered back, especially when Charles wrapped his tubby arms around her neck.

"How are you feeling?" Raven asked, getting a frown from the young boy.

"Better." She knew it was a lie but after living with Charles for so long she'd grown accustomed to him hiding things, and it seemed his 5 year old self was just like this. They sat in silence for a few minutes until Charles' face crumpled a little as shouts came down the hallway. It seemed like the other children were up, bombarding Charles with their thoughts. This time however, Charles stayed composed but Raven could see the effort it took him not to start crying. "Where's Erik?"

"Why Erik?" Raven startled, not expecting the question even if it was asked quietly and a little shyly.

"Everything's quiet when he's there. Voices aren't there." Charles elaborated and Raven nodded, being thankful for the helmet.

"I'll go get him." Charles didn't say anything as she made her way out of the room in search of Erik.

….

Erik decided to take Charles for a walk around the grounds, thinking it would be quieter for the young telepath out there. Alex, Sean and Logan hadn't looked impressed but they'd relented because Erik was right. In the mansion there were too many voices and while Charles may not have made any fuss like before he had been particularly crippled in bed all morning. When he got upstairs the first time around, Erik had found Charles on the floor, clutching his head in a manner not unlike the way he'd found him last night. "Am I going crazy?" Charles had asked and Erik didn't think his heart could break from just the soft spoken words of his 5 year old friend.

"Where are we going?" Charles asked, curiously following in Erik's wake as they made their way outside the mansion. Thankfully it was a sunny day so Erik didn't need to worry about the child getting a cold but Raven had still managed to wrap the young child up so as to avoid it. Raven had managed to dig out Charles' old children clothes from the attic and he was now wearing something that actually fit. Alex had suggested getting some of Charles' old toys out of the attic as well but they hadn't found any, something Erik really hoped was because they'd been thrown away.

"For a walk." Charles didn't speak again until they were further away from the mansion, nearing the back of the estate.

The further they had gotten from the mansion the more relaxed Charles had seemed and by the time they stopped at the old grounds keep hut on the outskirts of the estate Charles was wandering ahead of Erik with a smile on his face. "Mr Smith lives here." Charles stated a big grin on his face as they came to the front of the hut. Erik couldn't help but notice it was very clearly abandoned but according to Raven no one had lived here since before the pair had gone to Oxford, over 10 years ago now. "He and Mrs Smith, the cook, make me brownies when Mother goes on one of her trips."

Charles doesn't specify further though Erik does pause as the child wanders around the outside of the hut. "Does your Mother go away often?" Charles nodded. "And your Father?" Here Charles stopped altogether, a sad look crossing his face.

"Father died in an explosion and it made Mother very sad. She drinks a lot now." Erik frowned, wondering who actually looked after Charles then if not his Mother. "Why do you wear that helmet?" Erik looked at the child sharply, making Charles look down at his feet chastised. "Sorry, Mother says I'm too inquisitive for my own good and I shouldn't ask questions."

Erik knelt down so he was eye-level with the 5 year old. "There is nothing to apologise for. Ask as many questions as you want to I promise you won't get told off." Charles frowned, not sure how to take this but Erik was relatively sure that he'd regret telling little Charles this soon enough.

True to expectations when Charles realised Erik was serious it was like Erik had let out a monster inside the child. He continuously asked questions that, honestly, Erik had no idea the answer to such as 'Why was the sky blue?' or 'Why couldn't he be blue like Raven and Hank?' What Erik noticed with his time with the small child was that he was infinitely curious about the different mutations on the house. Obviously someone had tried explaining it to him but the child wanted to know more and while Erik did try to explain it he wasn't brilliant at quenching the child's curiosity.

"These questions are better suited to Hank I'm afraid." Charles looked a little disappointed but nodded anyway.

"I think Mother wants to marry Kurt Marko." Charles suddenly said an unsure look crossing his face.

"Who's that?" Erik asked because the suddenty of the question had him curious. He'd never heard the name before but from the solemnity in Charles' tone Erik could tell it wasn't good.

"He worked with my Father but I don't like him." Erik wanted to ask why not but the young child was suddenly distracted by a butterfly and ran off after it, leaving Erik completely confused as to what had just happened.

…

It was nearing 3 by the time Erik persuaded Charles to come back to the mansion. They'd brought lunch out with them and Charles had seemed to really enjoy himself as he was slowly dropping off on Erik's shoulder. It had surprised Charles when Erik had lifted him up, halfway back to the mansion, but he hadn't complained and had actually started to relax after a few minutes. Now he was snoring softly.

Erik was glad the child had been given the opportunity of time away from the busy minds as it became all too obvious as they walked into closer to the mansion that Charles was starting to struggle with the pressure of all those thoughts again. A sudden thought came to Erik as he placed the 5 year old onto a rock. Charles blinked bleary eyed up at him and Erik couldn't help the small smile that appeared on his lips.

"Do you know why you can hear all these voices?" Charles shook his head, his eyes instantly lighting up as if Erik held the answer to everything. "It's because you're a mutant. Just like everyone in that house."

"Like you?" Charles asked and Erik nodded, taking out a piece of metal in his pocket and shaping it into a crude shape of a dog. The little boy grinned widely, taking the object from the air.

"You can have it if you want." Charles grinned again, thanking Erik as he clutched the metal object in his hand. "These voices in your head, there not voices. They're our thoughts."

"Not yours though?" Charles suddenly said and Erik was surprised at how easily Charles was taking this conversation.

"The helmet stops you from hearing it." Charles nodded again.

"Can you make them stop?" Charles then asked hopefulness in his eyes. Usually Erik would say he didn't need to stop the thoughts as the mutation was a gift but this was Charles as a 5 year old and in pain and all he wanted to do was make the pain stop for the small child.

"No, but Jean can help you control it. She's just like you." Charles didn't look convinced but he didn't argue either. Erik thought that was a good thing as it meant Charles might let Jean help him control the thoughts. And that might just stop the pain until Hank found a way to bring the professor-Charles back. Though Erik couldn't help but think a little selfishly that he wanted Charles to stay like this because unlike his friend, this child didn't know what Erik had done and wasn't judging him. In fact from the way the child clung to Erik on the way back it was almost like he depended on Erik and that was probably one of the nicest feelings Erik had ever had.


	4. Chapter 4

Erik had just finished putting the younger Charles to bed and was a little confused. He'd offered to read to the little boy, who still looked a little pained due to the number of thoughts in the mansion but Charles had refused it, taking the book from Erik and reading to himself. Even though Erik knew next to nothing about 5 year olds he knew that was not normal behaviour.

"What's wrong?" Raven asked as Erik entered her room. Unsurprisingly, Charles had left both his and Raven's room just as they'd left it all those years ago. "Is Charles alright?" Raven asked again when Erik didn't answer, worry obvious especially as she saw the frown on Erik's face.

"I don't know. He's quiet and not anything like I thought a 5 year old would be." Erik stated. He'd come to Raven because he knew Raven was the only one in the mansion who may know a reason for it. "I wanted to know why?"

Raven didn't answer for a minute and when she did she'd taken on a worried look. "I wasn't around when Charles was a kid but from what I saw growing up with him, his Mother didn't really care about him." Erik frowned, motioning for Raven to elaborate. "I think she saw Charles as more of a nuisance than anything really but Charles never seemed to mind, I guess because he never knew any different." Erik was silent for a minute, anger at the woman coming to the forefront of his mind. From what raven had just said and the way Charles reacted it wasn't hard to imagine Charles had been abandoned by his Mother and forced to fend for himself. Something no child should ever be made to do.

"Charles mentioned someone called Kurt Marko. Who is he?" Erik suddenly sked, remembering the conversation he'd had with Charles beforehand. A dark look crossed Raven's face when Erik said this, spiking his curiosity.

"Kurt Marko was Charles' step-father. He used to beat Charles and his son Cain."

"Where is he?" Erik asked instantly. The thought of someone touching Charles made his blood boil and even if Raven hadn't given specifics of what Kurt Marko had done the expression on her face was enough to make Erik know it was bad.

"Dead. He died in a fire saving Charles' life. You know, that always confused Charles because Kurt always seemed to enjoy hurting him and Charles thought Kurt would rather let him die than allow himself to die. Instead he did the opposite." Raven was uncomfortable talking about this to Erik, knowing Charles liked to keep that part of his life separate even from her as he'd always hidden the truth about what Kurt did from her. The only reason she knew anything was because she'd come into his room one night after one particular beating and seen the injuries and put two and two together. Now she was telling Erik even though she knew Charles wouldn't be pleased when he came back except that she didn't have the energy to lie to Erik about this. Seeing Charles like this, a self-sufficient 5 year old, had brought back all those memories about how Charles' mother had always avoided the two of them. Of course it had never bothered Raven but she could remember the sad look on Charles' face whenever his Mother said she was busy or we told him to go away. To think that had started when Charles was still an infant was even worse.

"Hank really needs to fix this." Erik finally said after 5 minutes had passed in silence. Raven couldn't help but agree because no matter how cute Charles was as a child, the thought of him like this indefinitely was terrifying.

…..

Raven was a little apprehensive about this as she sat in one of the mansions' rooms opposite the 5 year old Charles and 8 year old Jean Grey. Jean was in the process of teaching a young Charles how to block out the thoughts of others. Both children were sat on the floor in the same position they had been in since breakfast. At first Sean had stayed in the room to supervise but he'd quickly run out after only a few minutes, saying something about the children projecting. Raven had offered to return to the room and though the others' were at first against it they decided to allow her to, especially considering Charles had clung to her last night.

Sitting there, Raven thoughts back to the night before when one of the children had had some sort of nightmare and Charles, unknowingly, had picked up on it. The 5 year old had woken up crying and screaming and Raven had been the one to run and calm him down. Erik had come in straight after her but seeing the way she'd been rocking Charles on the bed had decided to leave here to it. Somehow she'd managed to get Charles to fall asleep again but she had stayed all night.

When Charles woke up in the morning he'd been embarrassed and kept apologising, which only made Raven sadder. She'd grown up with Charles but she'd never thought that he was lonely as a child. Sure Charles had never gotten any love from his Mother and the Marko's' certainly hadn't shown it to him while his Mother had just ignored him, drinking herself into oblivion most nights; but Raven had never thought much of it. She'd had no prior experience in families and presumed it was the way most families acted and it wasn't like Charles was anything but optimistic and just plain Charles. Except now seeing Charles as a 5 year old she realised how starved for love the younger must have been growing up. Even now, she'd noted that the child preferred to be alone rather than with anyone else.

"You're thinking to loud Raven." Jean said, snapping Raven back to attention. The red head was glaring at her while Charles wouldn't meet her eye and oh shit, he must have heard all of that.

"Jean, give me and Charles a minute please." Raven said, hoping the young telepath would understand.

"Okay, Charlie knows how to control the voices now anyway." Jean said, smiling at Charles and running from the room.

The two were silent for a long while as the 5 year old stared at Raven. "Mother doesn't love me." Charles suddenly blurted out, a defiant look in his large blue eyes. The look made Raven's heart break a little because she could so clearly see that Charles was trying to be brave but deep down he was upset.

"I'm sure she does…."

"No she doesn't." Charles snapped, jumping to his feet making Raven a little worried because she'd never known Charles to snap at anyone like this, even if he was now 5 years old. "Mother always thought I was a nuisance and I saw your memories, she won't ever love me."

"I'm sorry Charles." Raven said, kneeling down in front of the child and pulling him into a hug.

"Why do you keep doing that?" Charles yelled, pushing Raven away even though the child wasn't strong enough to do it effectively. "Stop it. You don't know me and I don't understand why you're doing this."

Raven looked at the now silently crying child and knew that she had to explain to him what happened. "I love you Charles because you're my brother."

"You can't be my Sister because I don't know you." Charles was backing away from Raven as he stared at her so obviously scared.

"It's 1974 and right now you're not really 5, you're meant to be a lot older."

Charles shook his head and Raven was starting to wonder if this was a good idea or not but she knew it was too late now. Anyway, Charles was only 5 and now he was a telepath he would find out sooner rather than later even if that fact wasn't helping him believe it right now. Charles needed to know he was loved as well and the only way he would see it was if Raven showed him the truth. "It's not real." Charles whispered. "I want Mother. I want you out of my house." Raven could feel the influence coming from Charles but she ignored it, thankful the 5 year old wasn't nearly as powerful as Charles because if he was she wouldn't be able to resist him.

"Hank knows what happened better than I do, he'll show you. And we don't want to hurt you Charles we want to help you. We love you and you have to see that." Raven said as the 5 year old followed her from the room. As they walked towards the lab she could only hope Hank wouldn't be angry with her.


	5. Chapter 5

Hank was sitting in his lab when Raven and Charles walked in. Well, the young 5 year old particularly stormed in with a flustered and guilty looking Raven behind him. Hank frowned a little as he felt the aggravation and annoyance coming from the 5 year olds mind but Hank also felt the actual fear being projected from the 5 year olds mind. It was as if the young professor was afraid of him, afraid of everyone in the house. But that wasn't logical because they'd done nothing but care for the 5 year old. The only possible reason for Charles to be projecting that sort of fear and weariness was… "You told him." Raven didn't respond, meeting Hanks' eyes in a sort of defiance.

"He needed to know and it isn't like he wouldn't have found out sooner or later." Raven replied, stubbornly.

"How is that possible?" Charles interrupted; glaring straight at Hank and the young scientist had an uncontrollable urge to tell the young child everything. Pushing against it, Hank was momentarily shocked at the power the young child had. It didn't seem to matter that Charles had only gotten his powers a day ago; the 5 year old was still powerful if his influence in hank's mind was anything to go by. "How?" Charles repeated, shaking in anger and possibly not a little bit of fear.

When Hank didn't answer, the 5 year old grew impatient and before Hank quite knew what was happening, Charles was rooting inside his mind, finding the memories linked with what happened to the Professor. What the child got was a tidal wave of memories. From the first time Hank had met Charles straight through to Cuba and Charles losing his legs, his sister and Erik, the aftermath, the children going to Vietnam, Charles sinking into a depression, then Washington and everything that happened with Trask. The final thing that came to Hank's memory was the gas coming from the test tube in the lab and the explosion that followed, turning the Professor into the child. As the memories receded, a sudden spark came into Hank's mind. The gas. He was about to say something when he saw Charles shaking where he stood, clutching at his head as he shook his head back and forth silently saying 'no' over and over again.

"Charles?" Raven bent down, touching Charles' shoulder and causing the young boy to flinch away. "Hey, Charles, what's wrong? You can talk to me." Charles only shook his head.

"What was that?" Charles finally managed to choke out, silent tears running down his face as he looked up at Hank. "Was that me? Did all of that…" Hank could only nod as Charles trailed off. The confirmation seemed to make Charles tense up worse than before and when Raven reached down he actually screamed at her. "I hate you." The 5 year old shouted, running from Raven's blue hands and back out of the lab.

"What did he see?" Raven asked, her voice hitching as she watched the child run away.

"Everything."

….

It was Logan who found the child some hours later. As soon as Hank and Raven had emerged to tell them what had happened, the adults' had been running around in search of the 5 year old professor. Well, everyone but Hank who had been mumbling about some sort of 'gas' causing the explosion and the professors' consequent situation. Alex and Sean had been a bit affronted by Hank's seemingly lack of interest in finding the upset child but Logan had glared at them, figuring Hank was better off trying to find a way to turn Charles back than looking for the child.

"You alright bub?" Logan asked as he knelt down to look at the child. Charles was hiding behind an arm chair in one of the older rooms of the west wing of the mansion, rooms that the older Charles had avoided re-furbishing for whatever reason. The young child shook his head, tears leaking from his eyes, making Logan frown. "You wanna come out of there."

"Are Raven and Erik there?" When Logan shook his head the young child moved from behind the chair, albeit cautiously. "I hate them." There was anger and hatred in that tone that made Logan flinch away. He'd never heard that sort of anger in the Professors tone before, not even when Logan had first met the young Professor.

"You're not the only one bub." Logan replied honestly, because he knew no one in the mansion cared for Erik and Raven. In fact he himself hated them for everything they'd done. "But you don't hate them. At least the older you doesn't."

"Why not? They left me on paralysed. My sister and my friend." Charles was shaking now and when Logan put a tentative hand on his shoulder the child jumped up and wrapped his arms around Logan's neck, the tears causing a wet patch on Logan's shirt.

"You forgave us Charles because you're an optimistic pacifist who doesn't know how to hate." Erik's voice came into the room, making Charles look up and glare at Erik.

"Why did you pretend to care? I saw everything in Hank's mind. You never cared." Erik didn't answer as Charles pulled away from Logan and walked towards Erik.

"But those aren't your memories." Erik countered, making the 5 year old frown in confusion.

"No but those things happened to me or… they will happen to me."

"Not if Hank can't find a way to reverse it." Erik muttered and Charles froze then.

"I hate all of you." Charles suddenly whispered, his hands clutching at his head again. "You all caused this. It hurts and I hate it. I want it to just stop." The last word was shouted and as suddenly as that everything and everyone in the mansion except Charles and Erik froze in place. "What…" Charles trailed off, looking at the frozen Logan.

"Charles, you need to calm down." Erik began but Charles didn't say anything, backing away from Erik tears still coming down his face. "Charles, I know you hate me and I know you're scared but I need you to trust me. I care about you Charles and I know you don't want to hurt anyone but if you don't calm down you're going to do just that."

"I can't control it. Why can't I control it?" Charles was crying again. "I'm mad aren't I? None of this is really happening. It's just a dream. You're not real these voices inside my head they're not real." Erik didn't answer, just bent down so he was face to face with the child.

"Charles, I need you to focus on my voice okay? Can you do that?" Charles shook his head, his thoughts mixing with everyone in the mansion as they were all panicking about not being able to move. A sudden thought came to Erik as he reached to take off the helmet.

"Don't." Charles shouted. "I don't want to hurt you."

"You won't." Erik promised when his hands where on the helmet. "I'm going to help but I need you to focus on me. Just me okay?" Charles didn't reply for a second but when he nodded, Erik removed the helmet.

The feeling of a 5 year old Charles inside his mind was so different to the normal Charles. The young professor had no control over his telepathy, rocketing through Erik's mind in a way that had the man keeling over in pain as memory after memory assaulted him. But he had to stay calm, level headed. He couldn't allow the already frightened child become more so. Slowly, Erik reached for the memory of his Mother, the one Charles had used to help him move the satellite dish. This seemed to calm the upset Charles down but only a little. Thinking quickly, Erik reached for the memories of the training session before Cuba. Of Charles when he was walking and teaching and in his element. Charles held onto the memories, calming down as Erik showed him memory after memory of his time with the older Charles. How he felt towards his friend. How he thought Charles Xavier was one of the most brilliant men he had ever met before. Finally, the child collapsed from exhaustion into Erik's arms. Asleep.

….

Hank had been working for two day's solid before he finally found the way of turning Charles back to normal. The gas that had caused the explosion had been what caused Charles' cells' to de-generate back to that of a 5 year old and Hank had managed to isolate that idea and find, what he hoped, was a cure. Now the 5 year old was sitting on the table, watching Hank wearily. It wasn't surprising as the last time Charles had been down here Hank had shown him a future full of Charles' own pain and suffering.

As it was, Charles had spent the last two days' clinging to either Erik or Logan, something which would have been amusing if not for the fact that Logan would probably have killed whoever laughed at the sight of the man walking around with a 5 year old wrapped around his neck. For whatever reason, Charles had found some sort of comfort in Erik and Logan, possibly because they were the two that had managed to find and calm the young telepath down.

"Will it hurt?" Charles asked, curiously watching as Hank fiddled with the switches on the machine.

"No." Hank promised and Charles nodded, seeing the sincerity in the scientists head. Erik was watching them a little wearily from the corner as Hank lifted the gas mask to the 5 year old. "All you have to do is breathe through this."

"And what if I don't want to?" That surprised Hank as Charles looked up at him with innocent blue eyes.

"Then you won't go back to normal." Charles shrugged, making Hank fluster.

"You'll be stuck in a time you don't know with people you say you hate. Is that what you want?" Erik asked and Charles hesitantly shook his head. "Then I suggest you do what Hank says."

After a minute of silence Charles nodded, allowing Hank to fix the mask around Charles' face as the 5 year old breathed in the air. This lasted for about 5 minutes before the child fell uncioncous. "What happened?" Erik growled, jumping to his feet as soon as Charles' eyes closed and the 5 year old fell onto the table.

"He should wake up normal or…" here Hank trailed off but Erik seemed to get the message.

Without saying another word, Erik picked up the 5 year old Charles and carried him back to his room. As he watched the child sleep, Erik really hoped that whatever Hank had done worked because if it didn't Erik didn't know what was going to happen.


	6. Chapter 6

Charles woke up to a thumping headache and an uncomfortable feeling in his spine. Shifting around, he frowned at the position he was in. His legs, which were dead weights beneath Charles' abdomen, had managed to get into a position Charles hadn't been able to since he'd been paralysed. Frowning once more, Charles turned in the bed, grunting at the effort. For some reason all his muscles were hurting as if they'd been through some sort of exertion quite recently. Something like he'd been running, except that was impossible. A sudden flash of memory came to him, causing the telepath to frown once more in confusion. The last thing he could remember was being in Hank's lab and some sort of explosion, he didn't remember getting to bed. Maybe he'd lost consciousness. Then a frightening thought went to the children and Charles used his telepathy to touch the minds of those in the mansion. Everyone was safe. No one was hurt. Charles breathed a sigh of relief on feeling this, except when he brushed across two things that shouldn't be there.

Raven. Raven's mind that was as familiar to Charles as breathing was. She was here. But why? Charles didn't quite know how to react, the last time having seen her being at Washington. A mixture of feelings ran through Charles at the feeling of his sister's brain. Was she hurt? Had he been hurt and that was why she was here? Anger at her for not staying at home. Worry that she might hate him for causing her to come back, though Charles had no idea why she would have come back.

Then there was the blank space. The mind that Charles knew was there but was not. Erik. Erik was sat next to Charles' bed, sleeping crookedly on the chair in the corner in a position that could not possibly be comfortable. Once more Charles was caught in a confusion. Why was Erik here? Had he been hurt? It seemed the only logical reason for both Erik and Raven to be here. More so as Erik was sitting at his bedside. Maybe the explosion had injured him, sparing Hank only because the mutant was mobile and would have been able to get away from any sort of danger. Quite unlike Charles' inability to move in the wheelchair. Which wasn't anywhere in sight.

Erik suddenly started here he stood, his eyes flinging open and meeting Charles' own. "Charles." Erik said and Charles may not have been able to read the metal-manipulators' thoughts but he could quite clearly hear the happiness in the older mutants' words.

"Erik?" Charles asked, a little hesitantly simply because he couldn't understand why Erik was here. Or why he was so happy to see him awake.

"You're okay. You are okay aren't you?" Erik said, jumping to his feet, panic in the edges of his voice.

"Quote alright though…" Here Charles trailed off, unsure of how to put his confusion into words.

"You don't remember do you?" Charles shook his head, wondering what Erik was leading to. "I should…" And before Charles could even think to ask what had happened, Erik had disappeared from the room.

….

It wasn't until morning that someone came back into the room and Charles had been awake for the most part, trying desperately to patch together what had happened. He'd noted the calendar on the side of his bed, showing him the date and that he'd lost a little under a week of time. This had caused Charles' slightly panicked mind to consider going through his students minds, except he had managed to stop himself. He was quite sure they would tell him what had happened; there was no reason to go through their private thoughts.

Of course Charles could very easily have woken the students up, either to ask questions of what he had missed or simply to get someone to find his wheelchair so he could move from the bed where he'd been sat rather uncomfortably for the last few hours. What had stopped him, however, was the obvious tiredness coming from the children's minds so he had simply decided to let them sleep. A little discomfort on his part wasn't such a bad thing if it meant the children were not tired.

"Professor!" Alex's shouted in a pitch that could have rivalled Sean's' as he walked into the room. "You're okay?"

"I am, though I would like to get out of this bed if you could…"

"Yeah sure, be back in a minute." Alex interrupted, running out of the room and once more leaving Charles alone.

By the time Alex had found his wheelchair and brought it back up to his rooms, Charles could feel the excitement running through the minds of all the students in the mansion. He was going to ask Alex what had happened but he didn't manage to as Alex and Sean, who had followed Alex upstairs, were talking none stops about the younger children's antics. Of what Charles could gather from their fast paced talking as he dressed in the adjoining bathroom, they'd been the ones charged with the care of the children while he had been…indisposed was what Alex called it thought Charles could sense the uneasiness in the younger's mind.

Logan, Erik, Raven and Hank were sitting in the kitchen when he finally managed to shut Alex and Sean up enough to get them moving down the stairs. Erik wouldn't meet Charles' eye as he entered the room but Raven jumped to her feet, hugging Charles before backing away quickly with a shy look on her face. Charles felt infinitely guilty then as he knew it was partly his fault his sister felt so uncomfortable hugging him, something she had always done in the past. "Nice to see you as you again bub." Logan replied and Charles picked up on an image of small child from Hank's brain, though the scientist so quickly pushed it away that Charles could have sworn it was his own imagination.

"So…you really don't remember anything?" Sean asked after Charles had eaten.

"No, so if someone would please tell me how I missed nearly a week I would appreciate it." Charles knew he shouldn't have just said that as images from all the minds' the kitchen, except Erik and Logan bombarded his own with images of a small child. A child that Charles can't remember seeing outside of family photos.

"I really am sorry Professor, it was my fault and…" Charles sent Hank a kind look, stopping the scientist in his tracks.

"Do you mind?" Charles asked, waving his fingers up so the children understood what he was going to do. They nodded, allowing Charles to go through the images from the last few days.

When he was done, Charles sat silent for a minute. He'd been reverted back to a child. A 5 year old child with no control over his own telepathy. "I am so sorry my friends." Charles said, quietly as he pulled himself from his own thoughts. The control he had perfected over the years had been non-existent when he had first gotten his powers, and had become non-existent once more having reverted back to being that 5 year old child again. He may not have had any control but he had seen the way he had hurt his friends. Something that Charles hoped he would never do again. Ever.

"It wasn't your fault Professor. You were just a kid and…" Here Sean trailed off.

"I'm just glad no one was hurt." Charles finally said. The guilt at what his 5 year old self had done without the control of his telepathy was still there, and Charles doubted it would ever leave, but he had become accustomed to hiding those feelings and there was no reason to worry the children any more. Not after what they had gathered of his childhood from him being 5 years old again. It wasn't something that Charles had ever wanted them to know but now they did and there wasn't, honestly, a lot Charles could do about it.

"As you can see I am perfectly fine so there is no need to worry any further about me." Charles may or may not have pushed a calming influence over them then, though it didn't work on Logan who only frowned in disapproval. "Now, I believe Erik and Raven had a reason for being here so maybe we should discuss this."

The others didn't seem comfortable with it but left anyway, obviously happy now that Charles was back to normal. "I'll wait outside." Raven muttered and Charles couldn't help the feeling of guilt as he watched her go. He had told her he hated her, even though he didn't. He just hoped there was some way that he could make it up to Raven. "So, this mutant that you came to talk to me about." Charles said, having picked up the reason for Erik and Raven being there from Raven's mind. "I can offer him a place if that's what you want."

Erik didn't answer, only nodded his head. After a short while, he started to speak. "I'm sorry Charles." Charles went to protest this but Erik continued before he could. "I hurt you and I didn't realise that fully until you told me."

"I didn't tell you, a child version of myself did." Charles replied blandly. It didn't matter that those words had been what Charles had felt at the time, but not anymore. "I didn't hate you Erik. I don't hate any of you."

"But you did." Charles couldn't deny that, knowing Erik would see the lie for what it was. "Will you forgive me?"

"Oh my friend, there is nothing to forgive. Not anymore." Charles replied, smiling warmly at the other mutant.

"I want us to work together." Erik suddenly said, making Charles' frown once more in confusion. It would seem that was the running theme today. "I know we can't see the same ideals all the time but I want to stop our fighting."

Charles considered this for a moment before slowly nodding. "I never wanted to fight you but… I will not leave you to harm innocents." Erik might have argued, in fact Charles fully expected him to. Instead he nodded.

"I will not stand by and watch our kind be persecuted for being who they are but… I can perhaps stop killing those you deem innocent if you may push aside your pacifist views."

"A compromise." Charles stated, running through what Erik had said. "I can't promise anything Erik but perhaps in time we will be able to work together."

"That is all I ask for." Erik replied and Charles smiled. If Erik could agree to stop killing innocents then perhaps Charles could stop refusing to kill those who deserve it. "And stop feeling guilty my friend. None of this was your fault."

"I can't stop thinking that I could have hurt someone."

"You didn't." Erik snapped. "Charles everyone is fine and what happened, that wasn't your fault. None of this was so stop feeling so bloody guilty." Charles didn't reply, knowing that wasn't something he would be able to do.

"Thank you my friend, for helping with this…incident."

"This is what you call an incident." Erik laughed. "And it's no problem; you would have done the same for me." Charles nodded, knowing he would have.


End file.
